docker-image-load

docker image load [options]

docker image load loads a Docker image from a tar archive (even if compressed with gzip, bzip2, xz, or zstd) created by docker image save, restoring the image layers and metadata to the local Docker daemon.
The tar archive contains all image layers, configuration, and manifest data needed to fully reconstruct the image. Loading an image preserves its repository tags and digests exactly as they were when saved. This makes docker image load ideal for air-gapped environments, backup/restore workflows, and distributing images via physical media or secure file transfer.
The command can read from a file specified with -i or from stdin, enabling flexible integration with compression tools and network transfers.

-i, --input file

Read from tar archive file instead of STDIN.

Suppress load output.

Load only the given platform variant(s), formatted as "os[/arch[/variant]]" (e.g., linux/amd64). Can be specified multiple times.

The tar archive must have been created with docker image save or a compatible tool. Loading an image does not pull missing layers from a registry. Images are loaded into the local Docker daemon only.

docker image load is the modern syntax for the docker load command, introduced as part of Docker's CLI restructuring to group commands under management categories.

docker-load(1), docker-image-save(1), docker-image(1), docker(1)